International Journal of Research in Civil Engineering, Architecture & Design

Volume 1, Issue 2, October-December, 2013, pp. 08-12, IASTER 2013

www.iaster.com, ISSN Online: 2347-2855, Print: 2347-8284

Improving Engineering Properties of Soft Soil Using

Preloading and Prefabricated Vertical Drains
Sameer Kumar Reddy, Moosani, Dr. P.V.Divya
Department of civil Engineering, VIT University, Chennai, India

ABSTRACT
Preloading and Prefabricated Vertical Drains (PVD) is a ground improvement technique used to
increase the consolidation process of clayey soils by means of shortening the drainage path. This
paper discusses a case study of a road construction where a part of road alignment goes through a
low laying water logged area. Primary consolidation of soft clay will continue for longer period of
time after the road pavement is constructed which results in cracking and uneven settlement of the
pavement to avoid such a problem ground improvement in the form of prefabricated vertical drains
was recommended. Recent improvement in the finite element method analysis has enabled modeling
of PVD in finite element software for calculating the settlement magnitude and time rate of
consolidation. This paper gives the finite element modeling (FEM) of the proposed layer of road
where ground improvement is done by prefabricated vertical drains. Field Settlement values of road
at different time intervals are compared with the settlement magnitudes obtained from the FEM
model. Field Settlement values with and without placement of vertical drains is also compared. The
ultimate strength of soil was found to be increased due the preloading by the action of PVD.
Keywords: Alignment, Consolidation, Finite element method (FEM), Preloading, Prefabricated
vertical drains (PVD).

1.

INTRODUCTION

Soft soils having poor engineering properties such as bearing capacity and exhibit large settlement.
In recent years an increasing need of construction has made it necessitate on different sites which
is underlying by soft cohesive soil. In such cases the soil improvement techniques such as
preloading can be adopted to provide adequate bearing capacity and to minimize total and
differential settlements. [1]
Preloading is the application of surcharge load on the site prior to the construction of permanent
structure until most of the primary settlement has occurred. Preloading is the most widely used
techniques to pre consolidate and strengthen weak compressible soils. T.Stapelfeldt (2001) paper
deals with the soil improvement by preloading technique and utilization of the vertical drains. It
introduces installation methods of drains and possible influences of the drain efficiency. Methods
for assessing the effectiveness of soil improvement are described [2]
Preloading with prefabricated vertical drains is generally adopted to accelerate the rate of
consolidation and to minimize settlement of treated area under future dead and live loads.
Preloading increases the bearing capacity of soil and also reduces compressibility of weak ground
by making the soil to consolidate. The drainage path is reduced by using PVD i.e. the shortest path
is taken by the pore water to dissipate. HOLTZ (2000) explained the influence of drain
characteristics on the vertical drain design. Cost, specifications, installations, and particular
8

International Journal of Research in Civil Engineering, Architecture & Design

Volume-1, Issue-2, October-December, 2013, www.iaster.com

ISSN

(O) 2347-2855
(P) 2347-8284

problems associated with drains are discussed. The procedure for design of drain is explained for a
particular site.[3]
Advancement in Finite element analysis is used to find the settlement magnitude and rate of
consolidation. Plaxis (2D) v8 software which works on the principle of Finite element method is
used in this project. Indraratna (2005) described ground improvement technique of a port area and
the settlement values are compared with the settlement values obtained by back analysis using
Asakoa method. [4]
This paper discusses the case study of a low laying water logged area near Kakkanad, Thankalam
new road, India where the ground improvement techniques are suggested with prefabricated
vertical drains. The soil was soft and there was a need in soil improvement. Since the normal
consolidation takes longer period hence preloading with prefabricated vertical drains was adopted.
Considering the time factor and practical problems, numerical analysis is done using FEM and
compared with the field monitored values. The depth of soil was considered as 15m. Soil
properties for the underlying soft soil and fill material used for preloading are given in table 1.
Table1. Properties of Soil

PARAMETERS

2.

sat
Kn/m3

unsat
Kn/m3

SOFT SOIL

16

15

28

FILL

17

18

30

Kx(m/s)
7.3*105
1

Ky(m/s)
1
1

FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING

A FEM software Plaxis v8 which works on the principle of Finite element analysis is used. In
order to study the stress strain distribution in the in-situ soil a model was created which was
subject to a load intensity of 50kN/m2.The deformation field is shown in fig.1the maximum
settlement was observed to be 2.38m. The effective stress and shear stress distribution is shown in
Fig.2 &Fig.3 respectively. The maximum value of effective stress was found to be -98.00 Kn/m2
whereas maximum shear stress was -330.06*10-3 Kn/m2.

Fig.1 Total Displacement

Fig. 2 Effective Mean Stress

International Journal of Research in Civil Engineering, Architecture & Design

Volume-1, Issue-2, October-December, 2013, www.iaster.com

Fig. 3 Shear Stress

ISSN

(O) 2347-2855
(P) 2347-8284

Fig. 4 Plaxis Input Model

In order to check the acceleration on consolidation of in-situ soil a model was created by
introducing drains. The prefabricated vertical drains were suggested at the site to reduce the
consolidation time and the spacing was taken as 1.3m suggested from preliminary calculations and
the vertical drains are installed up to a depth of 10m. A geotextile layer is kept above the soft soil
layer for the passage of pore water. A porous layer
(sand) was also placed on the top of geotextile for
passage of pore water and a uniformly distributed
preload of 50KN/m2 was applied over a plate which
is kept on the top the porous (sand) soil. The study
was conducted in four stages initial stage, installation
stage, consolidation stage, loading stage. The
settlement after consolidation stage is shown in Fig. 5
Fig.5 Total Displacement after Installing Drains

The settlement obtained was 0.17m,which is completely settled by the use vertical drains here the
consolidation time is reduced these vertical drains helps for the dissipation of pore water at a faster
rate. Hence the bearing capacity and ultimate
strength are also increased. Flow field after the
installation of drains is shown in Fig. 6 as shown
in Fig. 6 as the preload is applied the pore water
gets dissipated and by the installation of vertical
drains the pore water takes the shortest path
which is along the vertical drains and goes
through the porous layer. The flow time is
reduced as compared to the soil without drains.
Fig. 6 Flow Field After Installing Drains

Strength of the soil is increased when the soil is preloaded with prefabricated vertical drains. In
order to check the possibility of improvement in
strengths, the treated (preloaded) soil was loaded
in the same manner in the final stage and the
displacement of soil is shown in Fig. 5. The total
displacement is reduced from 2.39m to 3.39mm
which clearly indicates that strength of preloaded
soil with drains is increased. Settlement for the
same load intensity was reduced to 3.39mm and %
reduction was observed as 95%.
Fig. 7 Total Displacement with Drains with Center Loading

10

International Journal of Research in Civil Engineering, Architecture & Design

Volume-1, Issue-2, October-December, 2013, www.iaster.com

3.

ISSN

(O) 2347-2855
(P) 2347-8284

COMPARISON WITH FIELD DATA

A portion of new road at Kakkanad, Thankalam new road, India where ground improvement may
be required has been identified as about 1000m and road width is expected to be 1.2m. Part of the
road alignment goes through low lying water logged area. The primary consolidation of soil will
continue for a longer period of time it was about 2.36 years from preliminary calculations which
results in uneven settlement and severe cracking of the pavement surface apart from this frequent
maintenance is required. To avoid such problem ground improvement in the form of prefabricated
vertical drains is recommended.
Geotechnical instrumentation consisting of
settlement gauges are installed within the ground
improvement area and ground settlement shall be
monitored until at least 90% of expected soil
consolidation is completed. Only after attaining this
consolidation the road pavement is constructed. 15
settlement gauges were used at this site and the
settlement values were collected which was carried
for 4 months. The photo of vertical drain stitcher
through which pre-fabricated vertical drains are
installed is shown in Fig 8
Fig. 8 Installation of Vertical Drain

These drains are installed up to a depth of 10m

generally PVD are band shaped (triangular in
cross section) products consisting of geotextile
filter material surrounding a plastic core, size of
the prefabricated vertical drain is 10cm wide and
3 to 4mm in thickness this material consists of
plastic core formed to create channels which are
wrapped in a geotextile filter. Function of the
filter of the vertical drain ensures that fine
particles do not pass and clog the drainage
channels in the core. The cross section of vertical
drain is shown in Fig. 9
Fig. 9 Cross Section Of Vertical Drain

These prefabricated vertical drains are

placed at a distance of 1.3m spacing the
period required for ground improvement
using PVD was 1 month for mobilization, 3
months for PVD installation, clay
consolidation period was about 3 months.
Fig 10 shows the ground improvement area
after installation of drains.
Fig. 10 After Installation of Drains

11

International Journal of Research in Civil Engineering, Architecture & Design

Volume-1, Issue-2, October-December, 2013, www.iaster.com

ISSN

(O) 2347-2855
(P) 2347-8284

The settlement from field observations

was up to 0.03mm and from FEM it is
0.06mm.The settlement vs. time graph
is drawn for field conditions which is
shown in Fig.11. As the loading is
removed after the consolidation stage
and the same load of 50KN/m2 is
applied the swelling occurs in case of
FEM analysis and the stress strain
distribution was observed.
Fig. 11 Settlement Versus Time Curve

4.

CONCLUSION

The preloading with prefabricated vertical drains of soft soil is discussed and a field study was
done, FEM analysis for the field conditions is done using PLAXIS. Using the FEM the flow of the
pore water is seen. After preloading the consolidation time was reduced and the % reduction in
time after preloading was up to 30%. As the settlement of soil is observed by preloading hence the
bearing capacity of the soil was improved.

REFERENCES
[1]

Dr.K.R.Arora Soil mechanics and foundation engineering , pp.68-73 and Plaxis 2D manual.

[2]

Consolidation Journal of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering Vol. 131, No. 12,
Dec. 2005, 1552-1561.

[3]

Holtz R. D., Jamiolkowski, M Lancellotta, and R.Pdroni, Performance of Prefabricated

Band-Shaped Drains, Report, CIRIA Research Project 364, Construction Industry Research
and Information Association (CIRIA), London, UK (to be published in the
Butterworths/CIRIA co-publication series as Prefabricated Vertical Drains: Design and
Performance, Butterworths, London 1987.

[4]

Balachandran S. (1990). Simulation of a test embankment failure (Muar flood plain,

Malaysia) using finite element techniques coupled with critical state soil mechanics, MS
thesis, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok,Thailand.

12